Disclaimer: all images and original texts belong to their rightful owners. Presentation based on Chapter 18 of "Entertainment education and social change", edited by Singhal, Cody, Rogers and Sabido. Images taken from http://www.unicef.org/rosa/media_2479.htm

1. 18 Cartoons and Comic books
for changing social norms:
Meena, the South Asian girl
Neill Mc Kee - Mira Aghi
Rachel Carnegie - Nuzhat Shahzadi

2. Introduction
• Objective: to demonstrate that animated film is an
effective entertainment-education medium to
consider, especially when a regional development
theme or problem is being addressed.
• Meena was “born” in Bangladesh in 1991 and spread
to other South Asian countries.
• Meena stories were designed to address traditional
attitudes of gender inequality.
• The theme song of the Meena animated film series
calls out to the viewer to “Think once again about
the girls in your family”.

3. Dividing the mango

4. The birth of Meena
• Meena is grounded in South Asian cultures but she was
first conceived in Prague.
• In March 1990 UNICEF hosted a meeting in Prague on
the use of animated film for development
communication:
▫ Walt Disney’s attempts to teach about malaria and
population control in the 50’s.
▫ Karate Kid on the protection of street children against
HIV.
▫ Canada’s Prescription for Health to prevent diarrhea.

5. The birth of Meena
• Bill Hanna from Hanna Barbera studios and Mc Kee
were challenged to come up with a film project.
• 1990 was the “Year of the Girl Child” in South Asia,
declared by the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC).
• Production of animated film is expensive and it was
decided that a regional audience was needed to justify
the costs.
• Backing of a regional management team and the hiring
of consultants to carry out in-depth research with local
communities.

6. Background and rationale
• In countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and
Pakistan, female children face differential
treatment in all spheres of their lives due to
deep-rooted traditional beliefs and practices.
• In the 1980s, the governments of South Asia
ratified the “Convention to Eliminate All Forms
of Discrimination Against Women” (CEDAW) to
counter blockages to women’s development,
such as the purdah that keeps women hidden
and excluded from education and participation.

7. Background and rationale
• The most fundamental rights of the child are:
▫ The right to life and maximum survival and
development.
▫ The right to health and nutrition, and access to
health services, safe water, and sanitation.
• South Asia is the only region of the world where
women do not have a longer life expectancy than
men.

9. Background and rationale
• Social discrimination, including gender.
• Children should be allowed to have their
childhood, to play, and to develop their social
skills.
• Access to appropriate information
• Respect for the views of the child and freedom of
expression.

10. Child labor: Meena in the city

11. Literacy: Count your chickens

12. Cartoons and comic books
for social change.
• The Meena communication packages consist of
animated films/videos, comic books, discussion
guides, posters, and two radio series produced in
collaboration with BBC World Service.
• Languages: English, Bangla, Hindi, Nepali, Urdu
and 20 other Asian languages.
• Through 11 years of formative research (focus group
discussions and in-depth interviews), a set of
characters, backgrounds, and storylines were
designed in animated film and comic book formats
that strike a common chord across a diverse region
(McBean & McKee, 1996).

13. Creative development and
formative research process
• The challenge was to create a character that
could be universally loved and identified with
across the region.
• In 1991, UNICEF held consultations in
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Nepal with key
figures in governments and NGOs, as well as
with artists, writers, and other creative talent.
• The motivation for change in attitudes and
behavior towards girls is build on recognition of
girls’ potential.

14. Creative development and
formative research process
• Meena’s parrot was suggested in Pakistan, where
in folklore the bird has a reputation for wisdom.
• Artists in each country were asked to draw
images of a girl, her family, and a parrot.
• The image identified as Meena is that of a girl
full of vitality and fun.

15. Creative development and
formative research process
• Studios of Ram Mohan in Bombay, the leading
animator in India, were selected.
• Mohan directed production of the first episode
of Meena in Hanna-Barbera’s studios in Manila.
After that, they took over the complete process.
• Meena wears a long pink shirt from Pakistan
and a red skirt or dress from other countries.
• The colors of the clothes were selected on the
basis of research into their cultural
connotations.

16. Creative development and
formative research process
• Red:
▫ color of purity, fertility, love, beauty
▫ wealth, opulence and power
▫ used in wedding ceremonies
▫ a sign of a married woman
▫ also color of fear and fire
• Pink:
▫ femenine

17. Creative development and
formative research process
• The landscape can be recognized across a region
spanning mountains and flood plains, deserts
and fertile green fields.
• Before the materials are designed, the
researchers go to communities to determine
their attitudes and perceptions on each issue.
• The respondent’s stories are used as
inspirational material in the first phase of script
writing.

18. Creative development and
formative research process
• Script check: comprehension, educational value,
cultural appropriateness and acceptability,
credibility of the solutions proposed, and
entertainment value.
• At the final stage, visuals from the story are also
tested to create new characters and locations.
• In Meena, other members of her family learn
and grow. She envisages a transformation that is
credible and real.

19. Creative development and
formative research process
• The first Meena episode tested in 1992
established that the film was entertaining but
viewed seriously in terms of its ideas. People
rarely spoke of Meena as an animated, fictional
character, but they treated her as a real person.

20. Using Meena to foster social change
• Meena is comprised of a set of communication
tools designed to fit into the programs of many
organizations working towards the common goal
of empowering girl children.
• Meena aims to raise awareness and discussion of
the issues and to support communities and
families in finding ways to fulfill their children’s
rights.

21. Using Meena to foster social change
• Meena was formulated for use in a three-tiered,
development communication strategy of
advocacy, social mobilization, and behavior
change communication.
• Meena is used to increase political commitment
for changing the situation of girls and women in
South Asia.
• Political commitment involves decisions by
leaders to use their power to influence social
change, including changes in policies and laws.

22. Using Meena to foster social change
• Meena is also designed to be used as a catalyst
for bringing together partners in governments,
NGOs, the media, and private sector.
▫ Bangladesh and Gono Shaharjjo Sangstha (GSS)
▫ India’s talk show and roadshow.
▫ Pakistan’s ambassadors.
• The process of establishing such an alliance is
called social mobilization.
• However, Meena materials are fundamentally
designed for behavior change communication.

23. Using Meena to foster social change
• Stories in Meena should:
▫ Capture the attention of a wide cross-section of
the public, beginning with opinion-setters and
educators.
▫ Be informative as well as provocative to generate
audience discussion.
▫ Motivate through their entertainment value.
▫ Be based on formative research into existing value
systems.
▫ Address life skills and enable environment factors
that are crucial for behavior change.

24. Using Meena to foster social change
• Girls in South Asia are denied vital skills like:
▫ Problem-solving
▫ Decision-making
▫ Critical-thinking
▫ Communication
▫ Negotiation
▫ Coping with emotions and stress
▫ Self-assesment
▫ Conflict resolution and management
▫ Relationship skills such as empathy

25. Behavior development
and social change model.

26. Using Meena to foster social change
• Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives and Vietnam
participated in formative research for three new
Meena stories. Language versioning of some of
the materials is being undertaken and program
planning and implementation has begun.

27. Evaluation of Meena
• 1. Bangladesh National Media Survey (UNICEF,
Dec. 2001): The 1998 Survey included questions
related to Meena.
• 2. 1999 Meena Baseline Study in Bangladesh
(UNICEF, Dec. 2001): Study conducted to
provide a baseline for a new quality education
initiative using Meena. Meena is highly popular
among both school-going and nonschool-going
children. Strong character identification.

28. Evaluation of Meena
• 3. Impact study in Pakistan (UNICEF, Dec.
2001): Following exposure to Meena films, a
positive shift in children’s attitudes towards
being more gender-fair was recorded.

29. Lessons learned
• Passionate sense of ownership that has been
generated in participating countries from the
beginning.
• Wide-scale formative research in a true
partnership process.
• Meena is the first large cartoon series in South
Asian local languages, set in local environments,
voicing local concerns, and produced mainly by
South Asians.

30. Lessons learned
• Involving top-level policy makers in advocacy
events has been a key strategy in garnering
political commitment for Meena.
• In 2002, meetings with BRAC, the Grameen
Bank, philantropic trusts in India and the
private sector Nokia and Archies stores explored
the establishment of an independent foundation
for Meena.

31. Lessons learned
• An operational model for a Meena Center has
been developed and plans are underway for its
implementation.
• This center will manage Meena production of
new products, initiation of new communication
and marketing ventures, licensing and
coordination of partners, technical support,
implementation of guidelines on what Meena
can and cannot promote, and custodial oversight
of copyright.

32. What general lessons from the Meena
experience might apply to other E-E
interventions?
• Extensive qualitative and systematic formative
evaluation is even more crucial when designing an
effective E-E program that will be utilized in a
variety of different cultures.
• A cartoon character can provide a positive role
model with which people from various regional
cultures can identify.
• Communication tools (like an E-E cartoon) can be
used by a wide variety of implementing partners
thereby galvanizing a process of social mobilization
for a common development objective.

33. Sara: in Search of a
Brighter Future for Girls
• Sara is the product of 20 months of research and
development work involving over 150 writers,
artists, and researchers from Eritrea and
Ethiopia in the North, to the Cape of Good Hope
in the South.
• Sara is the result of discussions with over 5000
people in villages and slums throughout this vast
region. It is their insights and reflection which
have shaped the adventures of Sara, an
adolescent girl between 13 and 15 years of age.

34. Meena and Sara are role models who are
challenging while culturally acceptable.
Thank you!